Changing Tides
by Scotia Daniel
Summary: April blinked, lost in thought. Something had been troubling her for the longest time, now. It was a poke in her side, ache in her head and a pain in her heart. Something was off. But as she looked at the beautiful blue, cloudless sky and how gorgeous everything looked around her, she couldn't figure out what was wrong.


"Babe?"

April blinked, lost in thought. Something had been troubling her for the longest time, now. It was a poke in her side, ache in her head and a pain in her heart. Something was off. But as she looked at the beautiful blue, cloudless sky and how gorgeous everything looked around her, she couldn't figure out what was wrong.

"Babe..."

April scrunched up her nose with annoyance. A headache was already forming and she wanted to go home and ignore the world. What was causing this awful mood? She hadn't been like this since...

"Babe!"

The red head felt like she had been slapped awake and turned to the person who had been talking to her. The older boy she sat next to frowned, his dark brown eyes glinting with disapproval.

"Sorry, I was thinking."

"You do too much of that."

April frowned. "Is that a problem, Casey?" She crossed her arms and deepened her frown at the kid who's supposed to be her loving boyfriend. He slung his arm around around her shoulders. She could smell the overdose of cologne on him. At one point, it had smelt good, but now he seemed to over to it a bit. And the smell of the leather of his coat didn't help, either.

"Babe, relax. I'm toying with you. Did you hear anything I said?"

"Honestly, no. I've had a lot on my mind lately."

"Well, we got your dad back, so what's the problem?" The older teen paused and then scowled. He took his hand and dragged her closer to him in a firm grip. April let out a small gasp at the light pain that throbbed in her arm. It wasn't that it really hurt, she had taken enough hits for it to not bother her at all, but it was the invisible bruise that would form later that ticked April off.

"It's that stupid nerd again, isn't it?" He spat. Everything about his demeanor suddenly became cold. It was those moments that made April uneasy at how...short tempered he could be. April shoved his arm away and scooted away. She met his eyes and glared back.

"No, but what if he was on my mind? What are you going to do about it? Grow up, Case. He's my best friend. And don't call him a nerd. You know I hate it when you call him that. His name is Donnie. D-O-N-N-I-E."

"I know how to spell."

"Funny coming from a guy who ditches school a lot."

Casey looked at her in surprise and crossed his arms. April stood up. She turned to leave, feeling the blood boil in her veins. A strong hand grasped her arm and tugged her to turn around. She turned her head to look at him.

"You're MY girl, April. MINE. I have every right to be overprotective of you. Especially from that _thing_. He likes you, and I don't like that. You don't have to like what I say, but as your boyfriend, I-"

"I'm not your property."

"Ugh, yes you are. That's the point of you being my girl. You're mine. Not the dweeb's."

She yanked her arm away, feeling the blood rush to her head in anger. He continued to look at her with ignorant eyes, not carrying if she were mad.

"I'm. Not. Your. Property. And now I'm questioning whether or not I want to be your girl."

The teenage boy's mouth dropped into an "o" shape and he stood up out of both shock and anger that rose within himself as well. "That's a lie and you know it. Come on, April," he sweetly said, running a finger through her bangs, the gesture he always turned to whenever he knew she was upset, "think of all the things I've done for you. I've always been there for you. Always going out of my way to make you happy-"

She swatted his hand away. "Yeah, remember the time you said you'd take me out to dinner and then no showed? Remember the time we were going to see a movie and you let me pick what we were going to see, but you complained about how I have boring tastes and decided to flirt with the girls the row behind us? I do. I also remember the sweet things you did to make me happy. Like, oh, I don't know...calling my best friends horrid names behind their backs? Not listening to a single word I have to say? Trying to buy my love when you know I could dump your sorry butt whenever I want?"

April took a step towards him and he took a step back, eyes wide. She smirked. That's right...little April O'Neil was finally standing up for herself once again. She took another step forward, and to her pleasure, Casey took another step back.

"You always bash on Donnie, but you know what? At least he listens to me. At least he genuinely cares about me in every way possible. At least he doesn't try to buy my love or flirt with other girls or calls my tastes boring. At least he'd try to enjoy the movies I like or try reading one of my favorite books because he knows it MEANS something to me. At least-"

April stopped in her tracks, eyes growing wide. Her eyes locked with Casey's who only looked at her with confusion and bewilderment. But instead of seeing the dark brown coals that were Casey's eyes, she saw the warm red-brown ones that belonged to Donatello.

Suddenly, April didn't feel angry anymore. Or annoyed. She felt happy. Like she had just found the answer to life. Her headache left her and everything that had put her in a bad mood before suddenly disappeared.

Casey wasn't the guy for her. It had been Donatello that whole time. She had known he had liked her, but until Casey had come into the picture, she didn't realize the potential Donnie had. Did see or appreciate what he had to offer.

And now...April O'Neil, the genius and daughter of a great scientist felt the one thing she hadn't ever really felt before: stupid. But she also felt happy. She wanted to kiss Casey on the cheek for helping her see what had been in front of her that whole time. Wanted to skip home with the biggest grin on her face.

April smiled and stood up straight. "Casey...thank you. You made me realize something I hadn't realized before. And if it weren't for you, I still wouldn't have realized something so simple and obvious. Thank you."

The red head turned and began to skip away. She turned to look at him and waved. "Thanks for everything! Oh! And by the way, I'm breaking up with you! Later!" She turned and ran off, feeling as though she could fly.

She didn't let the burning in her lungs and legs stop her from racing through the streets of New York to a manhole that lead her to her home. Her second home. A home filled with people who loved her and adored her and would never say the things Casey said to her on a daily basis. But most importantly, she ran to the manhole that would lead her to the man that deserved her way more than Casey did, and would be the man that would love her no matter how boring she could be nor would he make fun of her tastes. A man who would be her prince and dorky armor. April grinned, picked up her feet and ran towards the man that had the potential of being the love of her life.

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**Reply to Reviews:**

**GeCeLove, creatorX33: Thank you! :) **

**14rosie14: Thank you! I do think Don deserves her. I don't see why Nick would make his crush on her a huge deal only to have her not end up with him in the end. You don't have villains mock the hero about the girl for him to fail.**

**Guest: Sure thing! It was a request, and I was happy to write it. I don't hate Casey, but this is how I think it would go down if Nick decided to make him like how he was in the other versions of the franchise. I think he's a great character, just not stable enough to be boyfriend material. Even if April ends up with a different human, I think that'd be a better choice than putting her with a guy who's character was made to be a loose canon.**

**Alphinia and Sauren's Sister: I'll see what I can do~ I understand. I won't hate the show if that happens, but I don't get why they'd make a huge deal about Donnie liking her if it won't happen.**


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